Labels and Stereotyping

This is a literary essay about labels and stereotyping within 4 texts, thus it will probably be rather boring for most. So, by all means, skip to the conclusion if you wish to see the real message. Don't worry, I won't be offended.

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We live in a world of labels and stereotypes. Even in the different time periods of my texts this is apparent. Two of my texts: “Mr Van Gogh” by Owen Marshall and The Phantom of the Opera directed by Joel Schumacher, based on the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber, deal with the stereotyping of the individual person rather than the generic label. Atonement directed by Joe Wright, based on the book of the same name by Ian McEwan, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, consider the idea of the group of people under a label being stereotyped instead of the individual for their individual traits. Both of these connections are affected by the mind sets of that time period.

“Mr Van Gogh” and The Phantom of the Opera both touch on how people who are different and outside social normalities are stereotyped and labelled as something they’re not.

Mr Van Gogh, whose real name is Frank Reprieve Wilcox, is labelled outright as a “mad artist” by Mr Souness and is what most people think of him. As his name suggests, Mr Souness is sour about life and cares nothing for its beauty, and as such has no understanding of passion or beauty. When Mr Van Gogh’s house is bulldozed, Mr Souness is described as “laughing, rubbing his knuckles into his left eye because of the dust.” Mr Souness also symbolises the materialistic and immoral aspects of society. He is small minded and has no respect for those different to himself. This is in accordance with the small mindedness that can come from the residents of smaller rural New Zealand towns. Their small mindedness comes from often not having the opportunities to experience things outside of the tight nit communities that they know. Thus it is harder for those residents to be accepting of people or things outside of the little knowledge they have of the world. Owen Marshall, by referring to this in many of his stories, gives us a slice of reality. During the 70s and 60s, this small mindedness was, and possibly is, a very real aspect of New Zealand society. As well as showing us how Mr Van Gogh is viewed and being a symbol for society, Mr Souness helps to illustrate this lack of tolerance people have for those considered to be different from the social normal. Although Mr Van Gogh is an artist he is only thought of as mad because of how passionate he is about art and how he doesn’t conform to society. “A naked intensity of belief is an obscure exposure in an ordinary conversation.” The majority of people don’t like being able to see the unbridled passion of another as it makes them uncomfortable at the thought of seeing someone’s true nature. Mr Van Gogh’s passion of art is, to him, the only thing important in his life. “…he would have argued with Lucifer, for it was his necessity and power.” This is something that people don’t understand. Since his passion is different to what is considered to be the social normal, the reason why he argues isn’t understood. “Mr Van Gogh’s only problem was that he made a commitment to something which other people couldn’t understand.” He doesn’t like to play or follow rugby, or to gamble, which is what rural men were expected to do in the 60s and 70s. These differences in his passion and how he acts causes him to be an outcast from the rest of society. This reason to alienate people can be seen in reality and other time periods. If a person is different, or appears to be different, then in society's eyes they will be categorised in accordance with a simplified and standardised conception and treated as such. This, as commonplace it is, is the definition of stereotyping. As shown in this short story, Mr Van Gogh is treated and seen as “mad” even though he is in fact a brilliant artist.

These reasons for stereotyping are also apparent in The Phantom of the Opera as the Phantom is thought of as something he is not because he is different from the rest of society. Even the Phantom calls himself a “beast”, “monster” and “loathsome gargoyle.” The Phantom was born with a facial deformity, affecting half of his face. The Phantom’s own mother was horrified and couldn’t see past his deformity, which caused the Phantom to run away at a young age. “This face which earned a mother's fear and loathing, a mask: my first unfeeling scrap of clothing.” The Phantom himself loathes his appearance because of what society thinks. This loathing would have been intensified when he was younger due to his mother being a part of that society. The society, which the Phantom’s mother is a part of, thinks that since he looks different, like a monster, he must be a monster. Along with his loathing came sorrow from the knowledge that he knew not even the simple love of a mother, all due to the differences of his face. “Those pleading eyes that both threaten and adore...” The Phantom longs for the love which he was denied because of his appearance. Yet he has experienced so much hatred, cruelty and rejection that he cannot trust another completely. The Phantom was given the label “devil's child” when he was younger by a gypsy who ran a freak show and frequently beat him for the entertainment of the audience. Christine, the protagonist, asks the Phantom, “Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?” To try to conceal himself from the world, he wears a mask and lives in the darkness. However, that in itself causes people to be afraid and untrusting of him. The treatment he was given while at the freak show caused the Phantom to hide himself from the cruelty of humanity. “Hounded out by everyone! Met with hatred everywhere! No kind word from anyone! No compassion anywhere!” Yet it was also this gypsy and the people who would shy away, as if he really were a monster, then laugh like he was an animal, that lead the Phantom to resent the rest of humanity. “The world showed no compassion to me!” He eventually started treating those who were cruel to him in the same way. The Phantom does this to try show the society that hates him what his life is like. “If the Phantom has to kill a thousand… [He] will kill and kill again… Who is this man who hunts to kill?” This brutal way of taking revenge only reinforces the idea in the minds of society that he is a beast and monster. It escalates how society thinks of the Phantom and causes him to be more feared and even further of an outcast.

Although Mr Van Gogh is outcast and labelled because of his passion, a psychological aspect, while the Phantom is outcast and labelled because of his appearance, a physiological aspect, they are both labelled because of individual aspects which are unique to them. These aspects, of which neither can change, make them different, abnormal and strange to the rest of society. Society sees them as the “mad artist” and “monster,” disregarding their talents and merits, only taking notice of the stereotype.
Atonement and The Book Thief look at how groups of people can be stereotyped because of the label of the group they are under rather than the traits of the individuals themselves.

Atonement is set in several different locations and in three time periods, but for the most part in England and France in the late 30s and early 40s of World War II. Robbie Turner is thought to be untrustworthy and is wrongly accused of rape because of the testimony of Briony Tallis, a 13 year old girl of higher class and the protagonist of the film. Robbie says to Briony in part 3 of the film, “For all my education, I was still little better than a servant, still not to be trusted.” The Tallis family supported Robbie while he studied literature at Cambridge University and had offered to do so again so he could study medicine. However, Robbie is from a working class family. Therefore, despite his education, his word would have never been taken before the word of someone from an upper class family. He wasn’t thought of untrustworthy because of who he was, but rather, what he was. The label of social class applied to Robbie, thus he was treated accordingly.

The Book Thief is likewise set in the late 30s, early 40s of World War II. However, it is set in Germany, the heart of the war, rather than an Allied country. At that time in Germany the Jews were used as scapegoats for the losses of World War I. Max Vandenburg was one such Jew portrayed in the novel. German society at this time had been lead to believe that all Jews were responsible for the current tragedies and thus evil. Many were forced to hide in, or flee from, their own county and many more were killed simply for being Jewish. Max is one of those Jews who hid in Germany for fear of being caught and punished for something he didn’t personally do. Society views him as a “Jew” and only a “Jew.” Most of this society doesn’t even imagine the possibility of Max, or any other Jew, being something more. Most of society thinks, the Jews are lesser, how can they be the same as us? Despite his fear, Max felt guilty that the Hubermanns would risk everything to help him. “How could he show up and ask people to risk their lives for him? How could he be so selfish?” This shows how The Book Thief is actually set against labels and stereotypes, and how Zusak seeks to reveal the true traits of individuals behind the label.

Society punished Max, not for his individual traits, but for the label that had been placed on him and his family. Just like with Robbie in Atonement, he isn’t in control of the labels that are placed on him, nor the stereotypes around those labels.

In conclusion all of these texts are connected through labels and their stereotypes, which are apparent in every time period. Even though two are focused on the individual labelling and the others on group labelling, no matter how it is directed, labelling and stereotyping always has an effect on the individual person. However, although all stereotypes do affect the individual, society also has to pay a price for its actions. Labels and stereotypes cause the people of society to become less accepting and have increasingly narrower minds. This means that those who are labelled are outcast even further, and in turn it escalates the mind set of society to the same degree. Labels and stereotypes aren’t a two-way street. The cycle of labels and stereotypes are a downward spiral of thoughts and events, that leave nothing untouched and turns family against family, race against race.  Eventually, if we let it, it will turn the whole world against itself. However, if we can change the society that we are a part of, reduce the costs to both the individual and society, be accepting and have minds as wide as the universe itself, then we can prevent that from happening as it has happened before. Mahatma Ghandi once said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” We are in charge of how we view the world. If we changed that, then perhaps there wouldn’t be any labels or stereotypes to destroy ourselves with.